I admit it–I’m sick of it. All the politics on the news, the divisiveness, the fact that I can’t go on Facebook without my friends’ feed being an explosion of vitriolic “Who I’m voting for and why” posts. It makes me tired. But more, it makes me sad.

And here’s why.

Last weekend, my husband gave a message in our church that had been brewing inside him for a year, but whose time was finally right. In a way, it was about the country. But mostly–more importantly–it was about the church. And how we’ve failed.

Because here’s the thing. Politics and laws don’t change the culture. Ever. They reflect it. We as Christians are so up in arms over this election, convinced that if we don’t vote for the person who promises what we want, then we’re voting for Satan himself. That if one person wins, America is lost, but if the other person wins, then surely it’ll be a Samson or David or Solomon story all over again, right? God will work through one candidate to save us and the other to destroy us.

Um, here’s the thing folks. God isn’t going to save a country that doesn’t want to be saved. (Individuals, sure. There’s always a remnant. But I’m talking the nation as a whole.) So let’s look around and ask the real question:

Does American want God to save them?

The answer is terrifying. And undeniable: NO. America as a whole doesn’t want God. We’ve gone beyond tolerating sin–we embrace it. We as a culture have looked at the Bible, seen its wisdom, and chucked it out in favor of what’s fun and pleasurable and doesn’t make anyone feel uncomfortable. We just want to be happy. And we have that right, right? It’s written in our founding documents, for crying out loud! Everyone has the right to pursue happiness!

What we forget is that it’s not America that gives us that right. It’s the Creator. America is actually unique for giving the Creator that due rather than claiming it for the state. France, for example, in their revolution, said that the State gave its citizens those basic rights. So then, the State also has the power to take them away.

America can’t . . . unless we, as a people, let it.

So why do we today get so worked up over the system, the politics, and what those politicians can give or refuse, force upon us or take away . . . yet not expend half so much energy–or vocal power–proclaiming the Good News of Jesus? Convincing the world there’s a better way? Trying to change, not the politics, but the people it serves?

We’ve had politicians from both sides with senate majorities or in the White House. What have they done, really? Those who share our beliefs sure haven’t slowed down the moral decay. And those who oppose them have only instigated legislation that reflects the beliefs of most of the nation.

That is the problem–that is what we need to be fired up about. The fact that our nation, our culture, our neighbors have turned their backs on God.

No politicians, right or left or in the middle, can change that. Ever. Because we’re only going to get the leaders we ask for–the leaders we deserve. And right now, this is what we’ve asked for. What we’ve demanded.

So how about we turn our focus away from the leaders . . . and work on being a people who deserve the best?

It’s easier to just think we can elect people to do that work for us–but I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the easy way is seldom the right way, and the right way is seldom easy. Let’s, as the Church, as Christians, as believers in the best news to ever be given to mankind, stop whining about party politics–and start trying to change the culture that has created it.